Rendering shows DUS underground bus station with moving sidewalks now proposed to be removed.

Rail transit advocates on Thursday afternoon criticized a proposed change in the FasTracks’ Denver Union Station design that they had both predicted and feared.

A board member of the Denver Union Station Project Authority is proposing to remove moving walkways from a below-ground covered bus station meant to help transport riders between light rail and commuter train platforms nearly three blocks apart.

The Colorado Rail Passengers Association, which has long advocated keeping the light rail and heavy rail boarding areas adjacent to each other– thus not needing moving sidewalks to connect them — said it expected the proposed change because it always thought there wasn’t enough room for the moving sidewalks within the bus station area connecting the two train platforms.

ColoRail president Ira Schreiber said changes need to be made in the plan. “This shows that the present plan does not work to serve the future users of Denver Union Station.”

You can look at a document outlining the change, with drawings, here.

DUSPA member Robin Kniech proposed on Thursday that DUSPA eliminate plans for two moving sidewalks that would have helped riders get from a new light rail station at the north end of 17th Street, near the freight railroad mainline, to the heavy rail commuter trains that will go where the light rail platform is now located behind Union Station.

DUSPA is considering the change because Kniech says the walkways too short to be effective, and because they would use up a significant amount of the pedestrian circulation space and seating areas in the underground bus station.

In a letter that you can read and download here, Kniech wrote that she had started as a proponent of the moving walks especially out of concern for disabled people and the elderly.

“Since that time a number of engineering requirements have dictated a change in the design of the bus facility and the moving walkway, to the point where I no longer believe it serves its intended purpose, and in some regards may actually negatively impact access,” Kniech said in the letter.

Cost was also behind her proposal.

“Although my recommendation is motivated by design considerations, I also believe it to be prudent for the project financially, as the walkway is estimated to cost between $2 and 4 million to construct and an unknown but costly amount to operate and maintain.

“This results in passengers having no other choice but to walk the distance from the light rail to their bus stop, or walking to the commuter rail tracks,” the ColoRail statement said. “ColoRail has said for years that there wasn’t enough room in the bus box for all the people, wheelchairs, bicycles and lines of passengers for the ticket booths and bus loading.”

Deleting the walkways would cut $2 million from the project cost, estimated at $500 million.

The proposal received no official action, and before it can become official, it must be reviewed by RTD, which had signed off on the plan when the moving walkways were included. DUSPA is an entity created by Denver to manage the financing and contracting of the Union Station development. RTD is part of the board of DUSPA.